My 11 year old son is going to a large public middle school. At his elementary school I was able to pay for before school care so he could sit on a couch and read and not get in trouble/confrontations with other students and teachers. I am concerned about what will happen now before and after school (he will ride a bus), during lunch periods, PE, assemblies, etc. Before he did all assignments except Math and Science (which he likes and would presumably be motivated to do well) in a special ed classroom because of behavior problems experienced by the classroom teachers, He is not officially diagnosed as ADHD, but “meets the criteria” for ODD and takes medication (Concerta and Zoloft) for impulse control and obsessive-compulsive etc behavior. He also qualified for the “gifted” program once a week, and has a LD in written expression which his teachers seem to think is just another aspect of his behavior problems - he doesn’t like writing, so he doesn’t do it well. I thought he was going to a small private school, but they denied him admission (that’s another story!) His last IEP had him going back to the general classroom - but now that he is going to the larger public school, I am hoping to get it revised. Any ideas about modifications of nonacademic times such as before school, lunchroom, recess, and physical education and other alternatives would be appreciated! Thank you!
This is a tough one, because what you are basically looking for is a “safe
“haven” where he could feel safe from the irritations and distractions of others
during these more non-academic times. In my school, being the ED/BD tchr.,
I am happy to provide this safe haven in my room before school and during
lunch times, as I am pretty much in my room anyway. I have about 2-3 students
who take advantage of this, 1 which is actually my student. The challenge is
to find a teacher at your child’s school who might be willing to do the same
thing? Another option may be to revise the IEP as you said to place him in
a special ed. homeroom so that he could share the transition times with the sp.
ed. teacher who may be more well-equipped to handle them.
One final possibility is some social skills training objectives in the IEP that will
teach him to better address conflicts outside of the class, a skill he is going to
need eventually anyway. While my students thrive in my class, it is outside my
classroom(lunch, assemblies, etc.) where the bulk of their detentions happen.
Because of this, I started some social skills training the last period of the day
with them, and it has definitely made a difference!
Good luck……..I hope this has been of some help!